On the 25th May 1938 a squadron of Italian fascist bombers launched an attack on Alicante which was to go down as one of the deadliest aerial missions of the Spanish Civil War.
After the Aragon offensive Franco wanted to eliminate the maritime and commercial base of the Republic and authorised the Italian Aviazione Legionaria and Hitler's Condor Legion to launch indiscriminate attacks on Republican cities like Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante.
On that day in May 1938 more than 90 high explosive bombs were dropped on Alicante, many of them falling on the central market.
It was a busy day and the market was teaming with people and nearly 300 people were killed with over a thousand wounded. Many of them women and children.
Today the market looks pretty much as it would have done 75 years ago and is still a bustling and thriving commercial centre with a timeless display of fish, meat,fruit and vegetables. The locals shop there in huge numbers and it is great place to visit.
However, for seventy five years there was nothing at all to mark the terrible events of that day during the Civil War when the fascist bombs rained down.
In May 2013, anti-fascists from the historical memory organisation finally succeeded in laying down a fitting tribute in the plaza behind the market which you can see above. It is one of the few Civil War memorials in Alicante where the right-wing politicians use every means that they can to play down events which still remain within living memory.
With the relentless campaigning of the historical memory organisations we can hope that the Alicante market memorial is just one of many that will be unveiled in the future.
The Mediterranean Wall was a series of coastal defences built by the Republican militia to defend an area tretching from Cadiz to Genoa from sea borne attack.
The area around Santa Pola is dotted with these defences, some reasonably well preserved and others slowly crumbling away as the two pictures above from Tamarat Beach near the salt processing facilities just south of Santa Pola show.
This area was of strategic importance lying around 100km north of the Republican naval base of Cartagena.
It was thought that Franco and his allies would be unlikely to mount an invasion from the sea at Cartagena itself but may look to invade the coast further north to establish a bridge head before pushing south and possibly north into the Republican strong hold of Alicante as well.
That invasion never came as the fascists concentrated on land offensives which eventually saw them break through the lines, ultimately surrounding Alicante which was the last city to fall to Franco's forces.
You can find a series of pill boxes on the nature reserve area as you head south along the coast out of Santa Pola. Be warned, not only is it a favourite spot with bird watchers but with nudists as well.
